


Bumblebee

by blueblue1965



Series: F1 but with horses [2]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: (well they're riding but details), Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Dashing through the Snow, Horse AU, M/M, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28294827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueblue1965/pseuds/blueblue1965
Summary: Antonio and Macus spend Christmas in Sweden. Marcus keeps his promise
Relationships: Marcus Ericsson/Antonio Giovinazzi
Series: F1 but with horses [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772371
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15
Collections: GGCEC 2020





	Bumblebee

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quagswagging](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quagswagging/gifts).



> Robyn, I wanted to gift you the first part already but didn't so this one is for you. Merry Christmas thank you for being such a good friend <3
> 
> I think I said the next part would be Maxiel but now it's Bananasplit again please bear with me.
> 
> Thank you Monti for beta reading this in such short amount of time.

Antonio wakes up with golden sun rays tickling his nose. He blinks a few times, trying to get his eyes used to the light in the room. Next to him, Marcus is still sleeping contently, with the sunlight hitting his blonde hair just right, he looks very much like the angel Antonio thinks he is.

Usually, Antonio never sleeps in, working at the stable doesn’t really allow it and he doesn’t mind but now, having his boyfriend next to him and with Christmas right around the corner, he finds himself snuggling back into the covers. He wraps his arms around Marcus’ waist and falls asleep again as soon as he closes his eyes.

The second time Antonio wakes up it's by butterfly kisses being pressed all over his face. He scrunches his nose and blinks against the light that now fills the room. 

“Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty”, his boyfriend whispers, pressing another kiss to his nose before moving a trail of kisses down his neck. Antonio just hums, pulling Marcus close and buries his nose in the soft blonde hair. It faintly smells like oranges and cinnamon, like Christmas now that Antonio thinks of it. 

He briefly wonders if his boyfriend bought one of those Christmas shampoos Antonio started seeing in the shops at the start of November. Back then Antonio thought it was way too early to start thinking about Christmas, but now that it is Christmas eve already it feels like time went by in the blink of an eye.

“Come on, breakfast”, Marcus mumbles, kissing Antonio’s forehead briefly before scrambling out of the bed. For a moment Antonio is mesmerized by the light that hits the Swede’s body just right. Even after half a year he still can’t believe he got lucky enough to call Marcus his. The Swede seems to notice him staring and turns around to give Antonio a soft smile which finally brings the Italian to rise from the bed.

They get ready in comfortable silence, stealing glances in front of the mirror as they brush their teeth. Antonio only notices the smell of fresh bread as they walk downstairs. When they arrived in Sweden yesterday, Antonio couldn’t really appreciate the beauty of Marcus’ family home. Their plane was late and when they finally arrived it was dark and almost everyone was asleep already. The house is a mix of rustic and modern elements, light wooden floor all around the house and tall windows that let the sunlight in.

The kitchen is open and inviting, a huge doorway leading into a dining area with a silvery Christmas tree standing proud in one corner.  
Right now Marcus’ aunt is the only one that is still in the kitchen, working on the dinner for later. She smiles brightly as the two men enter the kitchen, already rushing to get all the ingredients for a late breakfast before they can even say a proper ‘Good Morning’.

Marcus’ Aunt is a sweet lady, Antonio noticed it as soon as they left the plane yesterday. She was the first one to pull Antonio in a tight hug like she had known him for years already and brushed all his sorrows of Marcus’ family not liking him aside. 

He patiently watches how Marcus’ aunt puts the breakfast on the table, even with them skipping lunch for the big dinner later it’s way more than Antonio would ever eat. There is yoghurt, fresh bread, eggs, at least 6 different kinds of jam and lots and lots of fruits. Antonio can only stare at the food in front of him which in return makes Marcus chuckle.

“She always does that”, he says, looking fondly.

“I think she just served us more than my mama ever did”, Antonio mumbles, reaching for the yoghurt. 

The food tastes fantastic, not better than Italian food of course but still amazing. Antonio eats more than he should have considering that they will have a huge Christmas dinner late this evening. Marcus’ aunt happily serves them more and more food but the minute Marcus tries to help her with the preparations for the dinner she kicks them both out of the kitchen. 

In the hallway Marcus wraps an arm around Antonio’s waist, pulling his boyfriend close.  
“I promised to take you on a ride through the snow, let’s go”, he says softly.

Marcus takes Antonio’s hand without waiting for an answer, ready to drag him outside immediately. Only when Antonio protests that he at least needs to put on some warm clothes he stops and reluctantly lets go of his boyfriend’s hand.  
He waits impatiently for Antonio to put on at least 3 layers of clothes (it’s cold, okay?) before taking his hand again. 

A thick layer of snow is waiting for them once they step out of the door. The whole property is covered in white save for the parts that were shovelled away to create a path between the buildings. 

Most of it was covered in darkness yesterday, save for the big tree right in front of the house that’s covered in fairy lights. From there a path leads slightly downhill to a small house that apparently belongs to Marcus’ grandparents, the other path leads in the other direction, uphill to the stables. 

It’s smaller than Kimi’s barn, of course it is, but it’s definitely not lacking anything. Inside the stable is a warm wood tone and Antonio immediately feels home. To be honest he basically feels home everywhere as long as there are horses but the feeling is a lot stronger than usual. This is where Marcus spent his time growing up, this is part of his family, of him. 

Antonio hopes one day he can call this home too.

“Come on”, Marcus snaps him out of his thoughts by pulling him along the rows. He stops in front of a stable, greeting a beautiful grey mare inside. 

“This is Bumblebee”, he introduces her, “I won my first ribbons with her.”

Antonio looks at her in awe. She seems to be old already but she doesn’t look old. Curiously she inspects Antonio’s pockets, searching for something edible and seems disappointed when she can’t find anything.

“You can ride her today”, Marcus says, already walking off to get the tack ready. Antonio stares after him for a second before quickly closing the door again before he follows Marcus into the tack room.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because she is your favourite?”

“Yeah but you are also my favourite”, Marcus sends Antonio a cheeky smile which in return makes the Italian blush heavily. Even after almost half a year he still isn’t used to Marcus giving him compliments. 

About 30 minutes later they lead their horses outside. Marcus is riding a small chestnut gelding that won’t stand still as he tries to get in the saddle. Antonio can only laugh at his boyfriend’s attempts to mount a horse that would rather sprint across a field already. Only when Antonio holds onto the reins the small chestnut stands long enough in one place for Marcus to get safely into the saddle.

He is still laughing when he turns back to Bumblebee only to face the exact same problem a few seconds later. Apparently, the mare decided that one rider on top of a horse is enough to get going, doesn’t matter that the other one is still standing on the ground. Now it’s Marcus’ turn to laugh even though Antonio manages to get into the saddle way faster than he did. Once safely seated he turns to Marcus to stick his tongue out and they both share a laugh.

It’s cold but having Marcus by his side as they ride through the snow warms Antonio’s heart, as cliche as it might sound.

They follow a narrow path with a meadow to their left and the forest to their right. Once they reach the end of the meadow the path changes his way more into the forest. Marcus leads the way through low hanging branches that more often than not hit Antonio square in the face. 

Just a few minutes later they reach the end of the forest and a huge field stretches out in front of them. While the snow in the forest was barely enough to cover the ground fully, it’s almost a meter deep in front of them. 

Marcus confidently leads his horse into the snow Antonio follows a little more carefully. Marcus’ horse leaves a trail behind that Antonio gladly takes. Even with most of the snow pushed aside, Antonio can still feel the huge steps Bumblebee takes underneath him.

Marcus turns around in the saddle, motioning to catch up and that is when Antonio leads the mare a little to the right so he can be right next to Marcus instead of riding behind him. Now he’s creating his own trail. It actually feels like riding in the water, he just hopes Bumblebee won’t throw him off as Bella did in the summer when they went to the lake.

It’s then that Marcus decides to start trotting, Bumblebee happily following along which throws Antonio slightly off his rhythm. He never got used to the slow but huge steps the horses take when they are in the water or this case in the snow. 

Marcus looks at him, a huge smile on his face that Antonio can’t help but return. 

After a while, Marcus slows down and rides closer to Antonio. For a moment he is slightly confused on what the Swede is planning but when Marcus reaches for his hand he isn’t able to contain his laughter. It’s incredible cliche and probably stupid as well since they rather hold on to each other than letting go when they start to drift apart but Antonio wouldn’t want to exchange this for the world.

The sun is already setting when they get back to the stable. Antonio only realises how cold it is when he gets off the horse and can’t feel his legs anymore. 

“Fuck”, he mumbles softly, trying to rub some feeling back into his legs. 

“Oh, here we go, hold them off as long as possible”, Marcus chuckles. Before Antonio can ask what he means his boyfriend already gets tackled by a little girl he recognises as his niece. As he turns around he spots Marcus’ nephew standing a bit away eyeing Antonio more carefully.

“Hi”, he says, smiling reassuringly. The boy looks like he wants to say something but gets interrupted by Marcus’ niece who tries to pull him back to the house.

“Come on Marcus, hurry up or else we’ll miss Santa!”, she whines, the little boy nodding along enthusiastically. 

“Yes of course, but we need to take care of the horses first we can’t just leave them behind.” He smiles when the girl starts pouting. “If you help me we will be quicker yes?”

She nods and quickly takes the reins out of Marcus’ hands and leads the small chestnut back into the stable, her brother following along quickly.

Marcus shakes his head but he is smiling as he takes Antonio’s hand and follows the kids into the stable. Antonio tries not to laugh at Marcus’ tactics of slowing his niece down, suddenly he doesn’t seem to find the halter or takes extra long to clean the hooves. 

The kids almost immediately sprint off as soon as the horses are put into their respective stables, eventually coming back to practically drag Marcus back to the house. It’s adorable and Antonio can’t help but love the way Marcus acts around kids.

As they enter the house the kids seem to have enough of Marcus trying to slow them down because as soon as his boyfriend got rid of his shoes they drag him into the living room. Antonio follows them a bit more slowly.

Marcus’ family is scattered around the living room, a big Christmas tree standing in one corner with lots and lots of presents laying underneath. Marcus’ niece is just staring at the presents, seemingly in shock while his nephew is slowly approaching the tree.

“Presents”, she whispers.

Every adult seems to suddenly look at the tree as if the presents haven’t been there before. “Where did they come from?”

“Santa was here”, the girl mumbles.

“Oh no! We missed him!”, Marcus’ aunt exclaims. For a moment the girl seems to be sad but then the excitement about the presents seem to take over. While the kids are busy opening their presents Marcus pulls Antonio next to him on one of the remaining armchairs. 

Everything about this is incredibly peaceful as Antonio curls himself into Marcus’ side, just enjoying spending Christmas with his boyfriend and family. 

“I have something for you too”, Marcus whispers after a while. He presses a quick kiss to Antonio’s cheek when he sees his shocked expression before he gets up and fetches a tiny present from underneath the tree. 

Antonio is still too shocked to say anything as he carefully unwraps it. Underneath the gold shimmering paper is a little velvet box and as he opens it he finds a small silver bracelet inside.  
He stares at Marcus and back at the bracelet that has a little charm in the form of a galloping horse attached to it. Marcus smiles softly and Antonio can’t help but tear up a little. 

“It’s beautiful”, Antonio whispers as he watches his boyfriend attach the bracelet to his wrist.

“Just like you”, Marcus answers cheekily, “Merry Christmas, Tonio.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it <3
> 
> Merry Christmas and stay safe x
> 
> I'm blueblue1965 on tumblr


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